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Category: 2026 MLB

  • Stat of the Week: The Best Defensive Players At The World Baseball Classic

    Stat of the Week: The Best Defensive Players At The World Baseball Classic

    Let’s do a little preview of the World Baseball Classic from a defensive perspective.

    The two best defensive teams at the WBC could be the United States and the Dominican Republic.

    Team USA’s position player roster is comprised of players who are currently good defensive players or formerly fit that description. The 2025 co-leader In Runs Saved, Blue Jays utility man Ernie Clement will probably share time at second base with Brice Turang, shortstop with Bobby Witt Jr. and Gunnar Henderson, and third base with Alex Bregman.

    Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong leads the outfielders, backed up by past Fielding Bible Award winner Byron Buxton. Another past Fielding Bible winner, Aaron Judge, will probably play a lot in right field.

    Most Defensive Runs Saved – 2025 Season

    Team USA Position Players

    Player Primary Position Total Runs Saved
    Ernie Clement Utility 22
    Pete Crow-Armstrong CF 15
    Roman Anthony OF 7
    Brice Turang 2B 6

     

    The Dominican Republic will likewise have a solid defensive center fielder in Julio Rodríguez, and he’ll be playing next to a two-time Fielding Bible Award winner, Fernando Tatis Jr. in right field. They’ll also be very good at first base with much-improved Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (8 Runs Saved in 2025) and Carlos Santana (12 Runs Saved) and shortstop with Jeremy Peña and Geraldo Perdomo.

    The Dominican team does have a few more problem spots than the United States. At catcher Agustín Ramírez (-14 Runs Saved) and Austin Wells (-7 Runs Saved) both had rough seasons last year. Juan Soto doesn’t have a great history in left field or right field, nor does Oneil Cruz in center field.

     

    Most Defensive Runs Saved – 2025 Season

    Dominican Republic Position Players

    Player Primary Position Total Runs Saved
    Fernando Tatis Jr. RF 15
    Carlos Santana 1B 12
    Julio Rodríguez CF 9
    Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B 8

    Venezuela is similarly situated in its carrying a few players who didn’t do well by Defensive Runs Saved last season (Salvador Perez, Ronald Acuña Jr). But this team has some playmakers in the field in right fielder Wilyer Abreu, third baseman Maikel Garcia, and utility man Javier Sanoja. Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar didn’t do well by Runs Saved last season (-2) but his history is such that it wouldn’t be surprising if he was the best defensive player in the tournament. He had 12 Runs Saved in 2023, 10 in 2024.

    Team Puerto Rico is down a few prominent players (Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa, Javier Báez). But the team will have third baseman Nolan Arenado, whose mother is of Puerto Rican and Cuban heritage. Arenado, a 10-time Gold Glove winner and 5-time Fielding Bible Award winner previously played for Team USA twice.

    Mexico is going to be pretty good at some spots. Alejandro Kirk is a terrific pitch blocker, very good pitch framer and solid at stopping the stolen base. He ranks second among catchers in Runs Saved over the last three seasons.

    Ramón Urías can play both second base and third base well. He had 5 Runs Saved at third base and 7 at second base (in only 26 games) last season. Jarren Duran can handle center field or left field. He ranked third with 11 Runs Saved in left last season and led center fielders with 17 Runs Saved two years ago (though he has -2 there in 2025).

    If you’re looking for an Adam Jones home run robbery kind of moment, Rodriguez or Crow-Armstrong could provide it. But also look to Canada, which should have Denzel Clarke in center field. Clarke had 2 home run robberies in 47 games in his debut season for the A’s in 2025.

    Canada’s other standout defenders are Otto López, who had 6 Runs Saved at second base and 7 Runs Saved at shortstop for the Marlins last season, and two-time Fielding Bible Award winner Tyler O’Neill, who won in left field in 2020 and 2021. Most of O’Neill’s playing time last year came in right field for the Orioles where he totaled -7 Runs Saved.

    Japan’s roster is highlighted by three players who won NPB Fielding Bible Awards last season. Seishiro Sakamoto is heralded as NPB’s best pitch framer and should see time at catcher. Ukyo Shuto won for best defensive center fielder last year and Teruaki Sato took the Award at third base.

    There are a lot of excellent defensive center fielders in the tournament. Two others there are on underdog teams, 2025 Fielding Bible Award winner Ceddanne Rafaela (Netherlands) and Harrison Bader (Israel). Another underdog, Panama, has a couple of good defenders in utility men José Caballero and Edmundo Sosa

    South Korea’s top defender is Hyeseong Kim, who had 9 Runs Saved in 45 games at second base for the Dodgers, though he could also play shortstop or center field. Kim won our 2023 KBO Defensive Player of the Year and has three KBO Fielding Bible Awards.

    Another prospect with good defensive skills is Guardians second baseman Travis Bazzana, who will play for Australia. He had 5 Runs Saved last season. For Panama, there’s a minor league prospect to watch, outfielder Enrique Bradfield of the Orioles, who had 7 Runs Saved as a center fielder two years ago and was heralded as a good defensive player coming out of college. He’s particularly good at coming in to make catches on shallow fly balls.

    We’ll admit to not having a good handle on Cuba’s talent, though the roster does include a couple of players with considerable experience in third baseman Yoan Moncada and Alexei Ramírez. Ramírez is 44 and last played in the major leagues in 2016. In the prime of his career he was an excellent second baseman who totaled as many as 20 Runs Saved in a season (2010). Perhaps he’s got a good play or two left in him.

  • Stat of the Week: MLB’s Most Impactful Defensive Acquisitions

    Stat of the Week: MLB’s Most Impactful Defensive Acquisitions

    Which players could be the most impactful defensive acquisitions for their teams in 2026?

    We’ve got a list for you. This one’s of 10 players from nine different teams so as to show a variety of teams that made improvements this offseason.

    We largely used Defensive Runs Saved as our guide for this analysis and are aware that other metrics may tell a different story. But we feel pretty good about this group. They are listed alphabetically by last name.

    Nick Allen (Astros) isn’t necessarily sure where he’s going to play in 2026 after being traded to Houston for Mauricio Dubon. We suspect that wherever he ends up, he’s going to be pretty good. He ranked 5th among shortstops with 12 Runs Saved last season, though that’s not his most likely spot given Jeremy Peña’s presence. If he’s at second base, his pedigree there is fine. He had 4 Runs Saved in 43 games in 2022.

    Nolan Arenado (Diamondbacks) isn’t what he once was, but even with 6 Runs Saved in each of the last two seasons, he should help the team at third base. Arizona hasn’t finished a season with a positive Runs Saved total at the hot corner since 2019.

    Harrison Bader (Giants) takes over in center field, sliding Jung-Hoo Lee to right field. Giants center fielders ranked last in MLB last season with -18 Runs Saved, so it’s a low bar for Bader to clear to be better than that. Bader has had as many as 18 Runs Saved in a season in center field (2021). He had 6 in 81 games there last season.

    Caleb Durbin (Red Sox) is part of a revamped right side of the Red Sox infield, as he’ll play second base next to first baseman Willson Contreras. In each case, they’ll be manning a position that totaled -9 Runs Saved and ranked among the worst in baseball last season. Durbin had 5 Runs Saved at third base as a Brewers rookie. Most of his second base history came in the minors, where he had 4 Runs Saved in 133 games.

    Adolis Garcia (Phillies) replaces Nick Castellanos as the team’s right fielder and may provide the biggest upgrade of any free agent or trade acquisition. Castellanos had -9 Runs Saved or worse in right field in each of the last five seasons. Garcia led right fielders with a career-best 16 Runs Saved in 2025 and has averaged 7 Runs Saved there over the last five seasons.

    Jeff McNeil (Athletics) may be the most surprising name on the list, and he’s here more because the A’s have been bad at second base rather than that he’s been great. The A’s haven’t had a positive Runs Saved season from second base since 2015. McNeil has had a positive Runs Saved there in four of the last five seasons, though that was only 2 Runs Saved in 2025.

    Carlos Santana (Diamondbacks) takes over first base for a team whose first basemen combined for an MLB-worst -11 Runs Saved last season. Santana could give the Diamondbacks something closer to what they had in the days of Paul Goldschmidt and Christian Walker in the field. He’s ranked in the top three in Runs Saved at first base in each of the last three seasons.

    Marcus Semien (Mets) is listed here, though the Mets were pretty good at second base in 2025 (9 Runs Saved, paced by Luisangel Acuña’s 5). Semien has had double figures in Runs Saved in four of the last five seasons, including a career-high 16 in 2023.

    Ben Williamson (Rays) has posted great numbers at third base both in the minors and in the major leagues. We’re taking it on faith that he’s going to be able to handle second base well as part of a platoon with Gavin Lux that replaces Brandon Lowe. Lowe had -14 Runs Saved in 121 games last season, so this is another situation with a low bar to clear.

    Mike Yastrzemski (Braves) is expected to play left field for the Braves, though the team would be well served to flip Yaz and right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. Yaz hasn’t played much left field (93 games, 0 Runs Saved) but he’s generally been pretty good in right field (17 Runs Saved in the equivalent of about two seasons since 2023). Braves left fielders had -8 Runs Saved last season.

    Honorable mentions: Luisangel Acuña (White Sox utility), Mauricio Dubon (Braves utility), Danny Jansen (Rangers catcher), Isiah Kiner-Falefa (Red Sox utility), Ranger Suárez (Red Sox pitcher), Kyle Tucker (Dodgers RF).

    I’ll note that if you’re looking for Alex Bregman, we didn’t list him because we don’t necessarily view him as a defensive upgrade at third base for the Cubs. Matt Shaw had 12 Runs Saved there to Bregman’s 1 in 2025. Bregman is a good third baseman but has never finished a season with more than 8 Runs Saved there.

  • Stat of the Week: Top 10 Young Defensive Players

    Stat of the Week: Top 10 Young Defensive Players

    Let’s do a sequel to last week’s list of the Top 10 Defensive Players in MLB. This time will salute the best young players, and we’ll define ‘young’ as ‘entering their age-25-season or younger.’

    Ranking them is kind of silly, as the top half of the list would be dominated by center fielders and I’ve noted in previous Stat of the Weeks that I find ranking across positions challenging. So rather than do that I’m just going to lump the entire list into a “10 best” classification.

    Here’s what I’ve got, in alphabetical order

    Name

    Team (Position)

    Pete Crow-Armstrong

    Cubs CF

    Michael Harris II

    Braves CF

    Wyatt Langford

    Rangers LF

    Colson Montgomery

    White Sox SS

    Zach Neto

    Angels SS

    Ceddanne Rafaela

    Red Sox CF

    Julio Rodríguez

    Mariners CF

    Javier Sanoja

    Marlins Utility

    Victor Scott II

    Cardinals CF

    Masyn Winn

    Cardinals SS

    Addressing the center fielders first:

    Ceddanne Rafaela and Pete Crow-Armstrong both made the Top 10 overall list, so they were automatics here. Rafaela led center fielders in Defensive Runs Saved last season at year’s end. Crow-Armstrong was neck-and-neck with Rafaela for most of the season. It wouldn’t shock me if either won our Defensive Player of the Year in 2026.

    Victor Scott II led center fielders in the range component of Defensive Runs Saved in 2025. He made an abundance of great catches on deep fly balls and had a highlight reel just as good at Rafaela and Crow-Armstrong. What puts him behind those two is that that his outfield arm numbers were poor by both our measures and MLB’s.

    For the last few years I’ve been surprised when I look at the center field Runs Saved leaderboard and don’t see Michael Harris II at the very top. Similar to Scott, his Outfield Arm Runs Saved (-2 last year) hurts his case a little bit. But he’s another outfielder who can go get the ball and plays every day (160 games in 2025). He turns 25 in March, so this will be his last year on such a list.

    Julio Rodríguez, who turned 25 in December, had a career-high 9 Runs Saved last season. After two seasons with negative Outfield Arm Runs Saved, he’s tallied 2 Runs Saved in each of the last two seasons, adding value with his arm to already pretty good range.

    And here are the other five in alphabetical order by last name.

    Wyatt Langford had a legit Gold Glove case in each of the last two years as a left fielder only to lose out to Riley Greene and Steven Kwan, respectively. He finished second at the position with 12 Runs Saved in 2024 and 2025. While some left fielders’ numbers suffer significantly when moved to center, the drop-off isn’t as steep for Langford, which makes him a strong inclusion on this list.

    Colson Montgomery got off to a very good start defensively with 7 Runs Saved in 60 games at shortstop last season and was particularly adept at getting to balls hit to his right (in the 56 hole). I’m a little nervous about this one because his minor league numbers weren’t great, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt based on the 55 fielding scouting grade that MLB gave him in 2024.

    Defensive Runs Saved has gauged Zach Neto to be a very good defensive shortstop in each of the last two seasons, though he wasn’t a Gold Glove finalist in either year. One thing that may get overlooked is that he has 9 Double Play Runs Saved in that time. In other words, he’s turning more double plays than expected. Those 9 Runs Saved are the most in MLB in that time.

    Javier Sanoja won the National League utility player Gold Glove last season and deservedly so. He played six positions last season, two particularly well in brief stints. He had 5 Runs Saved at second base and 4 Runs Saved at third base.

    Masyn Winn led shortstops in Runs Saved and won the Fielding Bible in 2024 but dropped back to 2 Runs Saved last season. Nonetheless, he did cut back significantly on his combined Defensive Misplays and Errors (the former being something our Data Scouts track) and my expectation would be that he’ll be good again in 2026. I’m picking Winn over Ezequiel Tovar here, who was in a similar situation. It’s a tough call.

    Honorable Mention: Roman Anthony (Red Sox RF), Corbin Carroll (Diamondbacks RF), Gunnar Henderson (Orioles IF), Kyle Karros (Rockies 3B), Matt Shaw (Cubs 3B), Cam Smith (Astros RF), Tyler Soderstrom (A’s LF), Ezequiel Tovar (Rockies SS), Anthony Volpe (Yankees SS), Carson Williams (Rays SS), Ben Williamson (Rays 3B).

    And we’ll add consensus No. 1 overall prospect Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin, who has 0 MLB games played. He tied for the lead in Runs Saved among minor league shortstops last season.

    What would your Top 10 list be? Share it with me at mark@sportsinfosolutions.com.P

  • Stat of the Week: MLB’s Top 10 Defensive Players

    Stat of the Week: MLB’s Top 10 Defensive Players

    It was around this time last year that we tried to rank the top 10 defensive players in baseball, a response to seeing a segment on MLB Network that did the same.

    As I said at the time, I’m not a huge fan of doing this because it’s difficult to compare a second baseman, right fielder and catcher within the same statistical plane (it’s a challenge we face annually now when we vote on the SIS Defensive Player of the Year).

    But hey, the people seem to like it, MLB (Mike Petriello) just did it again, and with Framber Valdez signed, we’re not expecting much more big transactional news. It serves as a nice setup to spring training, so let’s do it.

    The elite

    1. Ke’Bryan Hayes

    2. Daulton Varsho

    3. Patrick Bailey

    4. Steven Kwan

    5. Andrés Giménez

    Last year I listed three players as ‘elite.’ This year I’m going five-deep. I think it’s deserving. Ke’Bryan Hayes jumped from No. 3 last year to No. 1 entering 2026 after easily leading third basemen with 19 Defensive Runs Saved in 2025. Since 2021 he’s totaled 91 Runs Saved at third base. Ryan McMahon ranks second with 60.

    That’s what I mean by elite.

    Daulton Varsho dropped one spot to second and that’s mainly because I couldn’t justify someone who played only 68 games in the field last season ranking No. 1. But I don’t mind his being No. 2. Varsho’s 43 Runs Saved in center field since the start of 2023 are the most at the position despite his ranking 25th in innings played. He’s this generation’s Kevin Kiermaier.

    Patrick Bailey was our Defensive Player of the Year last year, so I could have ranked him No. 1. But I felt like this list wasn’t meant to be a one-year analysis. Regardless, he’s the best defensive catcher in the game by a lot. He leads catchers with 52 Runs Saved since the start of 2023. Alejandro Kirk ranks second with 39.

    If you want to talk about positional mastery, you should start with our No. 4, Steven Kwan, who I bumped up three slots from last year after he led left fielders in Runs Saved for the third time in four years. Kwan crushed it last season, with good range numbers and dominant outfield throwing arm stats (10 assists without a cutoff man, matching his 2023 and 2024 combined total).

    Injuries slowed down Andrés Giménez last season but similar to Varsho, he’s too good to pass up. He’s a second baseman with shortstop skills (who sometimes plays shortstop). His 51 Runs Saved at second base in the last three seasons easily leads MLB. Brice Turang is second with 41.

    Next Tier

    6. Matt Olson

    7. Ceddanne Rafaela

    8. Pete Crow-Armstrong

    These three players could all be in the top 5. You can give me a hard time for ranking center fielders below first basemen and left fielders I suppose. Go ahead. It won’t bother me.

    The iron man, Matt Olson, is the most consistent defensive player in baseball. In each of the last eight seasons he’s ranked in the top three in Runs Saved at first base. He’s led the position in each of the last two years and had a career-high 17 in 2025.

    Ceddanne Rafaela led center fielders in Runs Saved last season. Pete Crow-Armstrong ranked second. Both can catch it and both can throw it, and I don’t think there’s much difference between the two. PCA may get a little more of the credit because of just how good his plays look. But Rafaela actually had more of the Good Fielding Plays we track (27 to 23) in 200 fewer innings, so maybe you need to be paying closer attention to his highlight reel.

    Many Guys For 2 Spots

    9. Ernie Clement

    10. Wilyer Abreu

    Last year I was working off a list of 29 players for 10 spots. This year’s list was a little narrower.

    I wanted utility player representation because versatility is so important in baseball right now. And there’s no better utility player than Ernie Clement, who won our Fielding Bible Award for multi-position play last season. Clement tallied 11 Runs Saved at third base and 10 Runs Saved at second base and did it with a glove he bought on eBay. That’s impressive.

    I had a pretty good list for the last spot and in the end, I went with Wilyer Abreu, who has tallied 17 Runs Saved and 15 Runs Saved in right field for the Red Sox the last two seasons. He leads the position in Runs Saved in that time.

    If I had an 11th spot, I probably would have picked Nico Hoerner, so with that, let’s acknowledge the honorable mentions.

    Honorable mentions: Nick Allen, Mookie Betts, Matt Chapman, Denzel Clarke, Nico Hoerner, Brice Turang, Victor Scott, Myles Straw, Fernando Tatis Jr., Taylor Walls, Jacob Young

    What would your Top 10 list be? Share it with me at mark@sportsinfosolutions.com.

  • How Good Is Nolan Arenado Defensively Right Now?

    How Good Is Nolan Arenado Defensively Right Now?

    Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire

    Those of you who have watched a lot of baseball over time know that Nolan Arenado ranks as one of the best defensive third basemen of all-time. He has 10 Gold Glove Awards and 5 Fielding Bible Awards.

    But what is Arenado defensively right now as he heads to Arizona at age 35, coming off the worst offensive season of his career?

    Most Defensive Runs Saved – Last 2 Seasons

    Player Defensive Runs Saved
    Ke’Bryan Hayes 29
    Matt Chapman 22
    Ryan McMahon 20
    Ernie Clement 20
    Maikel Garcia 16
    Nolan Arenado 12
    Matt Shaw 12

    Arenado’s Defensive Runs Saved totals the last three seasons are 0, 6, and 6. He’s not the guy who saved 20 runs in 2022 but he’s also not quite done either. He’s one of five third basemen to have at least 5 Runs Saved in each of the last two seasons. The others are Ke’Bryan Hayes, Matt Chapman, Ryan McMahon, and Ernie Clement. 

    What made Arenado great in his prime was how good he was particularly in the 5-6 hole. In the first 10 seasons of his career, Arenado was 134 plays above average on balls hit to his left. He was league-leader caliber basically every year. For reference, Chapman’s best plays above average on balls hit to his left is +11. Hayes’ best is +10. The last two years, Arenado is +1 and +2. His 6 Runs Saved are the product of being a little above average going left, going right, and fielding balls hit straight or nearly straight at him.

    Some of those great early-career numbers come from the type of play for which Arenado was most well known, the barehand. We track how fielders make plays, including how often they attempt a barehand. Since the start of Arenado’s career in 2013, he has seven of the top eight seasons in barehand plays successfully made, the seven occurring consecutively from 2013 to 2019. 

    In that time, he made 140 barehand plays at third base, an average of 20 per season. No one is close to that. The next-most at the position from 2013 to 2019 is 66 by Todd Frazier. Third basemen got at least one out on 38% of barehand chances in that time. Arenado was successful on 52% of his tries.

    Arenado can still make a barehand play. He has 19 the last two seasons, the most at the position in the majors. But his success percentage is 42% (19 successes on 45 tries). Prime Arenado would have racked up at least a few more, if not a lot more.

    And though the aging curve has done its thing with Arenado, he’s particularly good for someone his age. Third base is a position in which almost everyone is younger than him. Only 10 players age 34 or older started a game at third base in 2025. Arenado’s 86 trailed only Max Muncy’s 90.

    However, the thing to keep in mind for Arizona though is this. What Arenado is able to give them at third base is probably going to look a lot better than what the team has gotten recently. The Diamondbacks haven’t finished a season with a positive Runs Saved at third base since 2019. The last time they’ve had a third baseman record 6 Runs Saved in a season was Jake Lamb in 2015 (13).

  • Stat of the Week: New Year’s Resolutions

    Stat of the Week: New Year’s Resolutions

    Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire

    Are New Year’s Resolutions on your mind? They’re on ours, though we’re not usually successful at keeping them. Since we were thinking about them, we made a few for baseball players and teams, using our stats as the basis. See what you think.

    Joey Ortiz: I resolve to stop chasing pitches

    Joey Ortiz had a full plate in Milwaukee last year, moving to shortstop to replace fan favorite Willy Adames. Ortiz’s offensive numbers cratered as his OPS dropped from .726 in 2024 to .593 in 2025. Though his batting average dropped only 9 points, his on-base percentage dipped 53 and his slugging percentage fell 81.

    Ortiz had issues with his swing decisions. His chase rate increased from 27% to 36%. That 9 percentage-point increase (9.5 when not rounded) was the largest for anyone with at least 300 plate appearances in 2024 and 2025.

    If we were to give Ortiz a point of focus, that point would be “Everywhere!”
    Here are Ortiz’s chase rates by our slicing of pitch locations.

     Chase Rate By Location

    2024

    2025

    Inside

    36%

    46%

    Middle

    32%

    45%

    Outside

    19%

    28%

    Low

    23%

    33%

    Middle

    31%

    44%

    High

    30%

    38%

    Tigers outfielder Riley Greene had the second-biggest jump in chase rate. He also had a 4 percentage-point climb in strikeout rate and struck out 201 times in 2025.

    Nick Martinez: I resolve to get my chases back

    Nick Martinez accepted the $21 million qualifying offer from the Reds after coming off a career-best season in 2024. His ERA jumped from 3.10 to 4.45 in 2025. One potential culprit: His chase rate dropped by 7.5 percentage points, the biggest dip for any pitcher that threw at least 80 innings in both 2024 and 2025.

    Martinez wasn’t missing bats much to begin with. With fewer chases also came more walks, fewer strikeouts, and more home runs allowed. His chase rate dropped by 7 percentage points on his four-seam fastball (which got clobbered in 2025) and 14 percentage points on his changeup (his primary secondary pitch). He’s probably not going to get a lucrative deal this offseason.

    Nick Martinez – 2024 vs 2025

    2024

    2025

    K per 9

    7.3

    6.3

    BB per 9

    1.1

    2.3

    HR per 9

    0.8

    1.2

    ERA

    3.10

    4.45

    Marlins pitchers and catchers: We resolve to be better at limiting baserunner advancement

    The Marlins allowed 191 stolen bases last season. That was the most in the league by 34! They also had the second-fewest caught stealings (24) and fewest pickoffs (3). And to top it off, they had the most combined wild pitches and passed balls (90).

    That’s a lot to fix.

    The primary pitcher culprits were Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera, who each allowed an MLB-high 35 stolen bases. At catcher Agustín Ramírez, who allowed 83 stolen bases and had only 8 caught stealings, and also led the majors in errors by a catcher (10) and wild pitches and passed balls allowed (55). He did all of this while ranking 30th in innings caught.

    Most Stolen Bases Allowed – 2025 Season

    Team

    SB Allowed

    Marlins

    191

    Astros

    157

    Braves

    152

    Rays

    152

    White Sox

    147

     C.J. Abrams: I resolve to be better at finishing plays

    If we were just judging shortstops at their skill at getting to balls, CJ Abrams would be pretty good. Only five shortstops had more Runs Saved from range than Abrams’ 7 last season.

    But Abrams finished with -6 Runs Saved overall because of the things that happened after he got to a ball, either his bobbling it or his not being able to throw a runner out when it was expected he’d do so.

    His -12 Throwing* Runs Saved were the worst of anyone in MLB last season. By our count he had an MLB-high 18 throwing errors and 5 Defensive Misplays related to throws (plays that were not errors but with a negative consequence). The 23 combined led MLB.

    Though the stat is labeled as “Throwing” at FieldingBible.com, it encompasses anything that happens after a fielder touches a ball.

    Most Throwing Errors & Defensive Misplays – 2025 Season

    Player

    Errors + Defensive Misplays

    CJ Abrams

    23

    Elly De La Cruz

    21

    Jazz Chisholm Jr.

    19

    Geraldo Perdomo

    15

    Anthony Volpe

    15

    Phillies Infielders: We resolve to be better on the double play

    The Phillies are a very good baseball team albeit one that hasn’t been the best defensively in recent seasons. They’ve had many issues but one they haven’t been able to shake has been their double play turns. We track both double play turns and opportunities (balls hit to a fielder with a man on first base and less than two outs). We convert the success rate into Double Play Runs Saved.

    Here’s how the Phillies have ranked the last three seasons.

    Double Play Runs Saved – 2025 Season

    Double Play Runs Saved

    Rank

    2023

    -10

    Last

    2024

    -12

    Last

    2025

    -12

    Last

    The common thread here is that the team’s double play combination in that time has been Trea Turner at shortstop and Bryson Stott at second base. In Stott’s case, he’s had Gold Glove caliber range numbers, but the issues with double play have hurt his chances of any sort of defensive award.

     They’re back for a fourth go at it in 2026.

    The Twins: We resolve to position our outfielders better

    Sort through the disastrous 2025 season for the Twins and you’ll see that the team finished 29th in Defensive Runs Saved. They totaled -21 Runs Saved at shortstop and -14 Runs Saved in right field.

    Additionally, they ranked last in Runs Saved accrued from the defensive positioning of their outfielders (-19). They were one of two teams to have a total of -10 or worse (Blue Jays -15). They had -7 Runs Saved on how they positioned Byron Buxton, the worst of any team for a center fielder last season.

    It should be pointed out that there are multiple things related to positioning and that some of the issue could be put on the pitching staff if it failed to execute its end of the game plan.

    Bottom 5 Teams in Defensive Runs Saved – 2025 Season

    Team

    Runs Saved

    Rockies

    -59

    Twins

    -46

    Angels

    -45

    Nationals

    -44

    Athletics

    -34